Can anyone help me out on how to grill a filet on a cast iron grill pan?
Grill Pan Steak
- Thread starter AndrewWiggin
- Start date
This is how I do it
I got this method from member WireBeard about a year ago
Prep some herbed butter - let a stick of butter come to room temp, then in a small bowl, mix the butter with some garlic, thyme, oregano, rosemary, white pepper or garlic and herbes de Provence, using a fork. Spoon the butter into a shot glass, one for each guest or scoop it out using a melon baller. Chill to allow flavors to meld, until firm (30-40 minutes). Before cooking the steaks, remove from the fridge and place on the table so it can warm up to room temp.
Get oven-proof plates (Crate and Barrel, etc.) - make sure they say oven proof. Heat the oven to 500 and let the skillet come to temp (10-15 minutes should do). Remove and place on high heat on a gas stove. Prep your steak (room temp please) with seasonings. Add a little oil to one side and place in the skillet, then add some oil to side facing up. Let cook for 1-2 minutes. Meanwhile, add the oven proof plates to the oven and switch the oven to broil. Flip the steak, let cook 1-2 minutes, then return to the oven under the broiler. I cook to under medium rare - around 130-135F....they steak will continue cooking with carry over heat and the hot plates. This is normally 5 min each side...use an instant read thermometer to check (one of the chef needle-types).
As the steaks are ready, check your plates. When a drop or two of room temp water sizzles on them, remove them and place them on heatproof trivets or pads. Wood trivets like with a fajita skillet are fine). Add a blob of butter to the plate and place the steak on the sizzling butter. Normally , you let a steak rest for 5 minutes so the juices will reabsorb into the meat. If you want to do this, leave the plates in the oven until you are ready to put the meat in them. If not, when the meat is cut, the juices run out and mix with the butter. Each bite can be dipped in this, so no dry meat. Serve to guests immediately. They can add more butter if they want. If the meat is a bit undercooked for some, the plate is hot enought o cook the meat further, bite by bite.
With the hot plate, your steak stays hot until you are finished.
I got this method from member WireBeard about a year ago
Prep some herbed butter - let a stick of butter come to room temp, then in a small bowl, mix the butter with some garlic, thyme, oregano, rosemary, white pepper or garlic and herbes de Provence, using a fork. Spoon the butter into a shot glass, one for each guest or scoop it out using a melon baller. Chill to allow flavors to meld, until firm (30-40 minutes). Before cooking the steaks, remove from the fridge and place on the table so it can warm up to room temp.
Get oven-proof plates (Crate and Barrel, etc.) - make sure they say oven proof. Heat the oven to 500 and let the skillet come to temp (10-15 minutes should do). Remove and place on high heat on a gas stove. Prep your steak (room temp please) with seasonings. Add a little oil to one side and place in the skillet, then add some oil to side facing up. Let cook for 1-2 minutes. Meanwhile, add the oven proof plates to the oven and switch the oven to broil. Flip the steak, let cook 1-2 minutes, then return to the oven under the broiler. I cook to under medium rare - around 130-135F....they steak will continue cooking with carry over heat and the hot plates. This is normally 5 min each side...use an instant read thermometer to check (one of the chef needle-types).
As the steaks are ready, check your plates. When a drop or two of room temp water sizzles on them, remove them and place them on heatproof trivets or pads. Wood trivets like with a fajita skillet are fine). Add a blob of butter to the plate and place the steak on the sizzling butter. Normally , you let a steak rest for 5 minutes so the juices will reabsorb into the meat. If you want to do this, leave the plates in the oven until you are ready to put the meat in them. If not, when the meat is cut, the juices run out and mix with the butter. Each bite can be dipped in this, so no dry meat. Serve to guests immediately. They can add more butter if they want. If the meat is a bit undercooked for some, the plate is hot enought o cook the meat further, bite by bite.
With the hot plate, your steak stays hot until you are finished.
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Preheat skillet for 5 minutes on medium high heat. Rub each side with olive oil, salt and pepper. Sear each side for a few minutes, then finish it in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. Let it rest for 5 minutes before eating.
I enjoyed reading that. I need to give that a try. The only time that I have cooked a steak in cast iron was when I ran out of propane in my grill. How many times have I not cooked a steak because it was too cold outside or too windy? Many.
DL
For the previous methods make sure you get a steak that is at least an inch thick. Where I live most steaks in a supermarket are relatively thin. . . . so
step 1 . . . find a good butcher
step 1 . . . find a good butcher
Well that's good advice even if you're not cooking a steak in a grill pan.
I always think a fillet is best done in a hot saute pan, season meat, seal it on all sides in hot oil then add a good knob of butter and continue to baste the steak in butter while it cooks. I find this helps to stop the meat drying out, particularly on the outside.
I love a steak cooked in a cast iron pan, but I never do that indoors. I crank on the grill outdoors, heat the pan on my highest burner indoors for about ten minutes while the grill is coming to temp, run the pan outside and throw it on the grill, wait another few minutes until I'm sure it's smoking hot, then add the steak. Gives a great char, and the missus allows me to continue to live indoors.
I actually prefer a similar method, but reverse the oven/sear steps. This makes for a much more evenly-cooked piece of meat.
Prep room temp steak with oil, salt, peper. Put in 300 degree oven for 5-10 min, the lesser for rare, the greater for medium. Remove from oven and sear on preheated grill pan for carmelized flavors. Allow to rest 5 minutes before cutting into.
Doing it this way allows for just the very thin outer layer to be seared very well and all but this super thin layer to be perfectly med-rare, or whatever temp you choose. Searing first, and finishing in the oven produces a much larger well done layer, and just a small area in the middle of the steak is actually the correct temp. Just my preferred method...
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+1
You need thick meat. Don't put it on the pan right from the fridge, let it warm to room temperature all the way through.
Once I get the pan hot, with some oil in it, I toss the steak on and leave it on one side for a minute or two, then flip once, for a similar cooking on the other side ... then onto my plate.
... eat.
I don't do the salt thing ...prefer unsalted ... and don't "finish" it in the oven as I want pretty rare ... so the room temperature advice is important to avoid eating cold meat.
Yeah, cooking a steak in a pan is messy.
1 word "marinade"
This method is similar to the one proposed by Highball, with a few differences in technique. Any good Choice grade steak will work, but I prefer ribeye cut 1 1/2" thick. Allow steaks to come to room temp (about 1 hour). Place your cast iron skillet in the oven and preheat to 500 deg. F. Pat steaks dry with paper towels, rub a light coating of canola oil on steaks, and season with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper.
Pull cast iron pan out of oven, and put on burner over high heat for 5 minutes. Put steaks in pan for 30 seconds to sear. Flip steaks to sear the second side for another 30 seconds. Put pan back into oven for two minutes, flip steaks again, cook an additional two minutes. Pull steaks from pan and let rest for 5 minutes before serving, I rest mine on an inverted pie tin in a stainless steel bowl, tented with foil.
Take your compond butter, and put a big knob of it on your steaks on the serving plate, or you can utilize the juices from the resting period to make a pan sauce, by adding your compound butter to that.
As mentioned before this method creates plenty of smoke indoors, so unless you want your smoke alarms going off etc, you can also do this outdoors on a gas grill with a side burner.
I was a meat cutter for many years, and nothing stimulates the appetite to me like the sanguine goodness that is a well prepared piece of cow flesh. One of my favorite movie scenes is from "Gang's of New York" when Bill the Butcher cooks a beef steak in a cast iron pan, over an ancient gas stove using only a knife to flip it. It looks barely cooked, but that scene always makes me hungry for a steak!
A quick opinion on marinades, they are great, but typically used on tougher cuts of meat to impart flavor, but mainly for tenderizing them. Most marinades always contain an acidic component to accomplish this. If you put a marinated piece of meat in a hot pan, without draining it, and patting it dry first, you will be braising your steak instaed of getting that wonderful, tasty sear.
Pull cast iron pan out of oven, and put on burner over high heat for 5 minutes. Put steaks in pan for 30 seconds to sear. Flip steaks to sear the second side for another 30 seconds. Put pan back into oven for two minutes, flip steaks again, cook an additional two minutes. Pull steaks from pan and let rest for 5 minutes before serving, I rest mine on an inverted pie tin in a stainless steel bowl, tented with foil.
Take your compond butter, and put a big knob of it on your steaks on the serving plate, or you can utilize the juices from the resting period to make a pan sauce, by adding your compound butter to that.
As mentioned before this method creates plenty of smoke indoors, so unless you want your smoke alarms going off etc, you can also do this outdoors on a gas grill with a side burner.
I was a meat cutter for many years, and nothing stimulates the appetite to me like the sanguine goodness that is a well prepared piece of cow flesh. One of my favorite movie scenes is from "Gang's of New York" when Bill the Butcher cooks a beef steak in a cast iron pan, over an ancient gas stove using only a knife to flip it. It looks barely cooked, but that scene always makes me hungry for a steak!
A quick opinion on marinades, they are great, but typically used on tougher cuts of meat to impart flavor, but mainly for tenderizing them. Most marinades always contain an acidic component to accomplish this. If you put a marinated piece of meat in a hot pan, without draining it, and patting it dry first, you will be braising your steak instaed of getting that wonderful, tasty sear.
The original poster is in Dallas, TX. I think the collective chefs would throw him on the grill pan for marinating a filet.
Marinade -> skirt steak -> fajita -> profit.
I still need to get a cast iron grill pan, but I like using a cast iron skillet so I can use the bits to make sauce or cook up onions and mushrooms to go with the steak. I like that steak butter recipe listed there. This might have to be dinner tonight.
+1 on steak not needing a marinade.
I have both, but I prefer a cast iron skillet over the "grill" pan. It's nice to have full contact between the meat and the metal, not just at the ridges.
To me, pan broiled steak is simplicity, itself. Dry the steaks. Rub with freshly ground black pepper and a little coarse salt. A little olive oil, peanut oil, or butter in a hot cast iron skillet. Three to four minutes per side and out. This is for a ribeye steak about 1 1/4" thick. Bone-in ribeyes are even better.
Serve with Tabasco sauce (original red type). And some of the pan juices.
Tim
Serve with Tabasco sauce (original red type). And some of the pan juices.
Tim
The only marinade my steak gets is a pat of melted butter at the end of cooking.
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